Thespakusatsu Gunma finished 2nd in J1 League for the third time in five years as Robaato Rasamu’s exciting youngsters excelled again in 2036/37. But, after 12 years in charge of Gunma, Rasamu was keen to take the next step and secure the club’s first major silverware.
An annual profit of £8.2m boosted the club’s bank balance to a new high of £32.9m. Gunma also saw their reputation improve to ‘Continental,’ and jumped up the rankings to become the 7th most reputable club in Japan. Rasamu chose not to sign any new first-team players, instead promoting midfielder Rintaro Okamoto and goalkeeper Tsuyoshi Mizuno.
Seventh Season in J1 League
The Japanese bookies massively boosted Gunma’s chances, predicting them to finish 5th with 33/1 title odds. Gamba have had their odds cut to 1/3, ahead of Kashiwa Reysol (12/1), holders Urawa Reds (18/1) and Kashima Antlers (20/1).
Midfielder Nobuhiro Yoshida gave Gunma a winning start with a wonderful solo goal defeating JEF United 1-0, before losing 1-0 at Consadole Sapporo, who’d just signed Gunma academy product midfielder Shota Asada from Saudi. They were much better a week later, as the attacking midfield duo of Atsushi Shimizu and Peter Tweh and left wingback Michiteru Masushima earned an easy 3-0 win against Tokyo Verdy before losing at Kashima, where Gunma have lost all of their 7 visits in this save. But Gunma started well, including a Yoshida brace inspiring a 3-0 win at Roasso Kumamoto, centre back Yuya Sugiyama’s first two senior goals securing a 3-1 win over Cerezo and Tweh creating both goals to secure their first-ever win at Gamba.
However, a tricky spell in November saw Gunma go into the winter break sitting 3rd, six points behind Kashima. They also lost star striker Fayé, who’d just been named 2nd in FIFA U21 World Player of the Year but only scored 7 in 19 this season, as Saudi triggered his £3.9m minimum fee in January. He was replaced by a different kind of striker as Emil Ivanov joined for £600k from Ludogorets, with improving academy product Shunichi Sakamoto stepping up to the starting role.
Sakamoto scored as Gunma returned to action with a dominant 4-0 win at JEF United then bagged twice in a 3-1 at struggling Tokyo Verdy. A huge game followed as Gunma hosted leaders Kashima and a wonderful Shimizu solo goal and Sakamoto’s ridiculous goal of the month-winning looping header earned a crucial 2-1 victory that moved them 6 points behind with a game in hand.
A Familiar Champions League Clash
Gunma’s third AFC Champions League campaign began well as late Jun Tagashira and Yoshiki Tanaka goals secured a 3-1 win over Suwon. Masushima’s brace led a 3-1 win at Jeonnam, before defeating Sydney 2-1, Thai side Pathum United 4-0 and Chinese side Yukun 6-0 led by Tweh and Shimizu braces. They then defeated Jeonbuk 4-0 in the new year, before finishing up with a rotated side dominating Vietnamese team Viettel 5-0 to finish 2nd in the group with a 100% record.
Gunma faced Yukun again in the last 16, dominating them 4-0 away before a rotated side won 1-0 at home. For the second successive season, they drew Al-Nassr in the quarters. But this time they put in a great performance, dominating the game and winning 2-1 through Tweh and Sakamoto goals either side of halftime. That teed up an all-Japanese semi against Kashiwa Reysol a few days later, and a tired team didn’t get going in a poor 4-0 defeat. Kashiwa went on to win the Champions League for the second time, defeating Urawa on penalties in the Final.
Gunma’s First Shot at a Major Trophy
Gunma hadn’t advanced beyond the third round of the Emperor’s Cup in Rasamu’s reign. But this season, they beat Cerezo 2-0 and Yokohama 1-0 to reach the fourth round, then saw off Niigata 3-1 before Jun Tagashira’s goal defeated Urawa Reds 1-0 to make their first final. That teed up a New Year’s Day clash with Sanfrecce Hiroshima at Japan National Stadium, for which Tweh and Fayé were at AFCON and Mito was still injured, so Rasamu lined up:
Honda; Nagashima, Soares Cruz, Iwanaga; Tanaka, Yoshida, Kato, Masushima; Tagashira, Shimizu; Sakamoto
Subs: Okamoto, Honda, Ruiz Díaz, Leonardo, Sugiyama, Bui Quoc Dung, Mito
A poor first half saw very little happen, with Gunma just about edging proceedings and continuing to dominate after the break. Rasamu made a few changes and one of them paid off, as Okamoto popped up in the box to convert Shimizu’s low cross. Rasamu went defensive and Hiroshima offered nothing, with Mizuno keeping a new competition record fifth clean sheet.
Thespakusatsu Gunma won the Emperor’s Cup to lift the club’s first trophy!
Gunma Chase the Double in J1 League
Gunma took confidence from the win over Kashima to join them on 64 points with 8 games remaining. However, Kashiwa were just 1 point back with a game in hand with one league defeat since November. Gunma drew a wild game at holders Urawa, who’d dropped back into mid-table, on the same day as Kashima and Kashiwa drew 1-1. Midfielder Mitsuhiro Kato inspired a 2-0 win at Yokohama with both assists, while Kashima lost at Machida and Kashiwa drew at Gamba, which sent Gunma top for the first time all season. And they stayed there going into the final five games as Shimizu and captain Diogo Soares Cruz strikes downed Sapporo 2-0.
Matchday 34 – Shimizu (5th, home): Gunma dropped points as, three days after the Champions League exit, a tired team was held to a 0-0. However, Kashima lost 1-0 at Kumamoto, and Kashiwa got another game in hand due to the Champions League Final being played that weekend.
Matchday 35: Vissel Kobe (12th, away): A welcome week off followed and paid off as, despite Kato missing a penalty, Shimizu and a superb Tweh volley earned a 2-0 win at Kobe.
Matchday 36: Kashiwa Reysol (2nd, home): A massive game followed as the top two went head-to-head at Maebashi Stadium. The visitors had the best of the early stages but Gunma landed the first blow as Sakamoto steered Mito’s cross-shot into the far corner. Kashiwa continued to be the better side without creating anything, before breaking away from a Gunma corner to score a late equaliser. Kashima only drew at Hiroshima, likely making it a two-horse race.
Matchday 37 – Kyoto Sanga (20th, away): Gunma struggled in their final away day, labouring to a 0-0 at already relegated Kyoto at the same time as Kashiwa drew 0-0 at home to Shimizu. However, Kashiwa lost their game in hand 1-0 at FC Tokyo, handing the advantage to Gunma with a 3-point advantage going into the final day. Gunma hosted Fukuoka while Kashiwa travelled to Kobe.
Matchday 38 – Avispa Fukuoka (16th, home): Gnma started well as Yoshida laid a freekick off to Tweh, who passed to Sakamoto to fire in from 20 yards. Honda pulled off a great save before a superb solo run by Tweh, picking the ball up in his own half and beating four men before coolly finishing. Gunma got a flyer after the break as Tanaka won a penalty that Kato calmly tucked into the top corner. And, despite a late consolation, that was enough for a dominant victory.
Thespakusatsu Gunma won their maiden J1 League title!
Gunma won the title by 3 points from Kashiwa, finishing on 80 points after 24 wins, 8 draws and 6 defeats, scoring 67 and conceding 29. Tweh and Sakamoto were 8th and 10th top scorers with 12 and 11 goals apiece, while Tweh and Tanaka were 8th and 13th top assisters with 9 and 8.
Celebrating First Honours and a Slew of Japan Internationals
Rasamu was delighted at winning his first major trophy in the Emperor’s Cup but absolutely ecstatic at adding Gunma’s maiden Japanese title five months later. Tweh and Shimizu were probably the star men this season, topping the goalscoring chart with 18 apiece, plus 12 and 11 assists respectively. Sakamoto chipped in with 14 goals, Tanaka and Yoshida scored 9 and Kato scored 8. Tanaka led the way with 13 assists, while Mito got 11, Masushima got 7 and Okamoto and Yoshida got 6.
Young starlet Kato has shown massive progress this season, becoming the best player at the club with 411 attribute points. That’s closely followed by Yoshida (406) and Sugiyama (403), making this the first season with three players in the 400s. Honda comes in at 398, followed by Shimizu (388), Tweh (385) and Tagashira (382). While Soares Cruz is the first player to pass 500 games for Gunma, and is just 1 appearance behind Yutaka Matsushita’s all-time league appearances record of 352. Click the chart below to see how all the players have developed.
Top performers in the youth sides included striker Kyohei Harada, who scored 33 in 45, wingback Kazuyori Hyodo with 17 assists and midfielder Hisenori Kanno, who got 12 assists. While several players were sent on loan to give them a taste of first team football. Click the chart below to see the youngsters’ development this season.
Gunma had their second academy star represent Japan as Shimizu made his debut in a 3-1 friendly defeat to Paraguay in November. Mito and Kato were both called up to that squad, before Kato made his debut in a 3-1 win over Turkmenistan in March, along with Yoshida and Sugiyama. And Gunma had another good youth intake led by wingers Kengo Okamoto and Toshiki Hayami, midfielder Toshiya Saito, who has particularly impressive attributes, and left wingback Hayato Tashiro.
Rasamu had ticked off his main objective of winning the Japanese title with a fully homegrown team, with only backup striker Ivanov not fully homegrown. However, he had his sights set on more defending the J1 title while having another crack at the Champions League, while developing more youngsters.
But could he keep hold of Gunma’s young starlets? And could Gunma defend their maiden title? Join us next Friday to find out!
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